In 2018, Nickel City Chef will offer Western New York a 10th season
of its hit culinary competition series!

Described by many as Buffalo’s own version of Iron Chef, this live cooking challenge pits professional chefs from local restaurants against one another in the stunning kitchens located at Artisan Kitchens & Baths. Each chef must use a locally sourced secret ingredient to create unforgettable concoctions in under an hour. Nickel City Chef has always sought to combine the entertainment value of food television with a distinct passion for all things local, with the end result being an experience as exciting as it is educational.

There’s a fine line between food lovers and food nerds. Food lovers are concerned with the end result, while food nerds obsess over every step of how a dish is made, from the sourcing of ingredients to its preparation and plating. If there was any doubt that Buffalo has always been home to an intense and appreciative group of food nerds, the success of the Nickel City Chef series provides incontrovertible proof.

Several exciting announcements and surprises are in store for 2018 audiences; we hope you will join us!

Dates for the 2018 season of Nickel City Chef are as follows:

Sunday, February 18th

Sunday, March 11th

Sunday, March 25th

Sunday, April 8thIndividual tickets to 2018 shows go on sale January 5th at noon.

2016 will mark the eighth season of Nickel City Chef, the Buffalo/Niagara region’s premiere cooking competition.

Described by many as Buffalo’s own version of Iron Chef, Nickel City Chef is as much about Western New York as it is about cooking and entertainment. We are privileged to live in an area with a rich history enhanced by hearty ethnic foods, a wildly varied agricultural bounty, and one of America’s greatest contributions to casual cuisine—the chicken wing.

Described by many as Buffalo’s own version of Iron Chef,Nickel City Chef is as much about Western New York as it is about cooking and entertainment. We are privileged to live in an area with a rich history enhanced by hearty ethnic foods and one of America’s greatest contributions to casual cuisine—the chicken wing.

While these edible icons are as important to Buffalo as professional sports teams and world-class architecture, in culinary terms, they are not all that we have to offer. Nickel City Chef is designed to expose our area’s talented chefs, providing them with an arena in which to showcase dishes that may be too daring or complicated to warrant a permanent position on a restaurant’s dinner menu.

This year, Feed Your Soul Productions has teamed up with Buffalo’s Highwatermark Films to again produce shortvideo segments detailing the day’s competition.Battle Milk, featuring whole white milk and whole chocolate milk from Hoover Dairy in Sanborn, NY, took place on March 22, 2015. Nickel City Chef Adam Goetz of Craving Restaurant and his sous chef, Patrick Chmura, took on Challenger Bryan Mecozzi of Black Iron Bystro, and his sous chef Steven Ceccarelli.

The show was held at Artisan Kitchens & Baths in Buffalo, NY and hosted by Bert Gambini, chef Mike Andrzjewski (Seabar, Tappo, Cantina Loco, and Bourbon & Butter), and special guest, chef James Roberts, CEC of Toutant.

Nickel City Chef, a Feed Your Soul production, is an exciting and popular cooking competition, but it is so much more than that too.

Nickel City Chef offered up the third competition on this year’s schedule at Artisan Kitchens and Baths, 200 Amherst St. Buffalo, NY 14207 on March 24th with a battle featuring De Maas Amber Ale from Community Beer Works. CBW is Buffalo’s only nanobrewery and in less than a year of competition has garnered national awards and recognition. Most recently they took second place in a well-regarded national IPA challenge, a feat previously unheard of for a brewery so small.

Challenging Chef Carmelo Raimondi of Carmelo’s in Lewiston, took on Nickel City Chef Brian Mietus, owner and executive chef of downtown’s well-appointed Bacchus. Judges for the day included Ivy Knight, Toronto food writer and Editor-in-Chief of the lauded Swallow, Chef James Roberts of Park Country Club (winner of Nickel City Chef’s 2011 Battle: Beer), and Chef Chris Dorsaneo of Lloyd, a winner from 2012’s Nickel City Chef series.

As always, the show took place at the stunning interactive showroom of Artisan Kitchens & Baths where the chefs are able to work on Viking and Jenn-Air appliances. Nickel City chef is hosted by Bert Gambini and Chef Mike Andrzejewski. Photography by Wabi Sabi Foto. Video by Brian Mihok.

Next on the roster is the 24th installment of the show, which takes place on April 14th and features Nickel City Chef Adam Goetz versus Chef Edward Forster of Mike A’s in the Hotel Lafayette.

Nickel City Chef’s fifth season sold out in less than a day. Feed Your Soul, the production company behind the series, seeks to showcase the culinary talent, in the field and the kitchen, that exists here in WNY.

“Nickel City Chef: Buffalo’s Finest Chefs & Ingredients” features over 32 recipes, farm profiles, chef bios, and competition insights from the hit show’s first three seasons. Plus each book holds a DVD featuring video from a selection of challenges and the film “Food for Change.”

Nickel City Chef, a Feed Your Soul production, is an exciting and popular cooking competition, but it is so much more than that, too. You can read more about its mission here.

Nickel City Chef kicked off its fifth season on February 24th with a battle featuring Arden Farm‘s kale as a secret ingredient. Arden Farm is an organic farm located in East Aurora and operated by the great grandson of Elbert Hubbard, founder of the Roycroft.

Challenging Chef Michael Obarka of Ristorante Lombardo took on Nickel City Chef JJ Richert of Torches. The two are longtime friends who cut their teeth together at Westwood Country Club. Judges for the day included Janice Okun, the former restaurant critic and food editor of the Buffalo News, Nelson Starr, a Buffalo Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, and Chef Mark Mistriner, CEC, founder and Division Chair of the new Niagara Falls Culinary Institute.

Next on the roster is the 22nd installment of the show which takes place on March 10th and features Nickel City Chef Jennifer Boye of the Mansion versus Chef Teddy Bryant of Lloyd Taco Trucks.

Nickel City Chef’s fifth season sold out in less than a day. Feed Your Soul, the production company behind the series, seeks to showcase the culinary talent, in the field and the kitchen, that exists here in WNY.
This season is sponsored by Niagara Falls Culinary Institute, Wegmans, Cutco, Artisan Kitchens & Baths, Leonard Oakes Estate Winery, D’Avolio, Healthy Options from Independent Health Foundation, Mansion on Delaware Avenue, You & Who, and fine appliance companies, Viking, Fisher & Paykel, DCS, and Sub Zero/Wolf.

Firing Line features cooks and chefs from WNY restaurants, battling it out in front of a live audience in a format not unlike the top-rated Food Network series, “Chopped.”

In this three-part series (including two preliminary matches and one finale), accomplished young chefs will compete to complete several successful dishes under difficult time restraints and utilizing unknown ingredients furnished by local farms and artisan foodmakers.

This event will take place in the stunning loft showroom of the west side’s Artisan Kitchens & Baths. Three competition-worthy kitchens face the audience seating area, suitable for 200 guests. A live camera beams images from the flame and sweat fueled competition kitchens onto flat screen monitors that hang above the audience, providing them with an up close and personal experience from any seat in the house. A cash bar and gourmet snacks are provided.

At each match, a panel of professional judges will select the winner, ultimately giving one young chef the chance to make a name for himself in the increasingly intense and exciting WNY food scene. The winners of each preliminary match will also walk away with Cutco’s popular Galley Set. Cutco, located in Olean, NY is the only company still manufacturing kitchen knives in the United States.

Hosted by Bert Gambini and Buffalo’s favorite chef, Mike Andrzejewski, Firing Line is sure to be a hit, just like its big sister, Nickel City Chef.

Chef Teddy Bryant / LloydChristopher Bryant, known to his friends as Teddy, is the sous chef for Lloyd Taco Truck. Prior to that, Bryant earned an Associates Degree from the Culinary Institute of America before working at some of the finest and busiest restaurants in the country. He began with an internship at Le Cirque in New York, before moving to Las Vegas where he worked as a butcher for the Venetian Hotel, as a grill cook for Nobhill in the MGM Grand, and as the sous chef of Bradley Ogden at Caesars Palace, to name just a few of the esteemed listings on his resume. A Buffalo-native, Teddy credits his grandfather’s skills in the kitchen with inspiring him to become a chef.

Chef James Gehrke / Mike A at Hotel Lafayette James Gehrke, currently in the kitchen at Mike A at Hotel Lafayette, has earned quite a reputation as a culinary competitor here in Buffalo two-time winner of the annual sous chef competition, held by Nickel City Chef at the Taste of Buffalo every year, and longtime sous chef to Nickel City Chef Adam Goetz, Gehrke may have more hands-on competition experience than all of our Firing Line competitors combined. Completely self-taught, Jimmy credits his abilities to the local chefs he has worked for who have taken the time to impart their knowledge to him.

Chef Jason LaMotte / Global Spectrum and The Conference & Event Center, Niagara Falls Jason LaMotte is executive chef for Global Spectrum, The Conference & Event Center in Niagara Falls. He attended Paul Smith’s College, earning an Associates Degree in the Culinary Arts. Born in Western New York, he grew up in New Orleans, eventually becoming an Executive Chef for John Besh restaurants. His culinary style focuses on bold flavors and honest preparations, but his world travels have also influenced his approach. After stints as an executive chef under Gordon Ramsay in London and Eastern Europe, he became the regional executive chef for Hard Rock Cafe in the Czech Republic. LaMotte and his wife Petra have three children.

Chef Donald Cook / SampleDonald Cook is the executive sous chef at Sample restaurant in Allentown. A graduate from the French Culinary Institute, Cook is a Buffalo native, who has recently returned from cooking in New York for the last five years. Cook, who feels that working clean and remaining professional are keys to his success, has worked at the Michelin-starred Rouge Tomate and as tournant under Chef Nate Appleman at Pulino’s. Cook’s firm belief that using proper technique and process when preparing food is just as important and the taste and quality of the final product.

Chef Daniel Kirby / Seabar Daniel Kirby works as a sous chef at Buffalo’s four star Sea Bar. A western New York native he is a graduate from the ECC Culinary Arts program. His passion for fusing classic and modern techniques might be most evident in his employ at Sea Bar, where his knowledgeable, creative, and even-tempered skill set are put to the test on a daily basis. Influenced by his idols, Eric Ripert and Thomas Keller, Kirby works to insure that his work pays respect to each individual ingredient.

Chef Anthony Petrilli / Park Country ClubAnthony Petrilli can currently be found in the kitchen of our region’s most food-forward club, Park Country Club. A graduate of the ECC Culinary Arts program, Petrilli spent three months working in a restaurant on Italy’s Amalfi Coast before returning to the States. An 18-month stint in Toronto working for the lauded Oliver & Bonacini restaurant group taught him to work in an environment of well-executed systems and impeccable professionalism. Ambitious and passionate, Petrilli feels that growing up with a vegetable garden in his backyard taught him that food isn’t just sustenance, it can be divine.

About Feed Your Soul

Feed Your Soul is a company dedicated to developing and executing both private and public events focused on the food and agriculture of Western New York. Feed Your Soul’s events focus on showcasing the bounty that is Western New York’s legacy. Our company was founded on the firm belief that agritourism and culinary tourism should not only be a major aspect of living and traveling in WNY, but are a fundamental component to Buffalo’s renaissance.

On November 4, 2012, nearly 200 audience members will pack the Artisan Kitchens & Baths loft showroom on Buffalo’s west side. A live, head-to-head baking competition will feature three of the region’s most creative and talented cupcake artists. Each baker will compete in two heats—the first, to present the judges and audience with their signature cupcake, the second, to bake and decorate original cupcakes utilizing a secret ingredient.

The audience will watch from their seats, which provide a great view of all three competitors, as well as up close shots from a roving camera which beams images onto the showroom’s dozen or more overhead flat panel monitors. Hosting the event is Buffalo personality Bert Gambini.

Elsewhere in the large refurbished 19th-century warehouse, guests can sample Lake Effect Ice Cream and snacks prepared by Sample restaurant. Each guest will also cast a vote for their favorite signature cupcake.

Nickel City Cake Challenge is an event designed to celebrate the art of baking and to drive home the idea that our region is flush with talented bakers who deserve the opportunity to truly showcase their talents in a public forum. The program also works to support small, independent businesses.

—-Feed Your Soul is a company dedicated to developing and executing both private and public events focused on the food and agriculture of Western New York. Feed Your Soul was founded on the firm belief that agritourism and culinary tourism should not only be a major aspect of living and traveling in WNY, but are a fundamental component to Buffalo’s renaissance. It is best known for its popular Nickel City Chef series, Cake Challenge, and annual farm tours.

Feed Your Soul , the Buffalo-based production company behind the hit Nickel City Chef series (soon to enter its fifth year), presents its newest program, Nickel City Firing Line!

Firing Line features cooks and chefs from WNY restaurants, battling it out in front of a live audience in a format not unlike the top-rated Food Network series, “Chopped.”

In this three-part series (including two preliminary matches and one finale), accomplished young chefs will compete to complete several successful dishes under difficult time restraints and utilizing unknown ingredients furnished by local farms and artisan foodmakers.

This event will take place in the stunning loft showroom of the west side’s Artisan Kitchens & Baths. Three competition-worthy kitchens face the audience seating area, suitable for 200 guests. A live camera beams images from the flame and sweat fueled competition kitchens onto flat screen monitors that hang above the audience, providing them with an up close and personal experience from any seat in the house. A cash bar and gourmet snacks are provided.

At each match, a panel of professional judges will select the winner, ultimately giving one young chef the chance to make a name for himself in the increasingly intense and exciting WNY food scene. The winners of each preliminary match will also walk away with Cutco’s popular Galley Set. Cutco, located in Olean, NY is the only company still manufacturing kitchen knives in the United States.

Hosted by Bert Gambini and Buffalo’s favorite chef, Mike Andrzejewski, Firing Line is sure to be a hit, just like its big sister, Nickel City Chef.

Firing Line is sponsored by Cutco and Artisan Kitchens & Baths.

Match One takes place on Wednesday, November 7th.

Chef Teddy Bryant / Lloyd Christopher Bryant, known to his friends as Teddy, is the sous chef for Lloyd Taco Truck. Prior to that, Bryant earned an Associates Degree from the Culinary Institute of America before working at some of the finest and busiest restaurants in the country. He began with an internship at Le Cirque in New York, before moving to Las Vegas where he worked as a butcher for the Venetian Hotel, as a grill cook for Nobhill in the MGM Grand, and as the sous chef of Bradley Ogden at Caesars Palace, to name just a few of the esteemed listings on his resume. A Buffalo-native, Teddy credits his grandfather’s skills in the kitchen with inspiring him to become a chef.

Chef James Gehrke / Mike A at Hotel Lafayette James Gehrke, currently in the kitchen at Mike A at Hotel Lafayette, has earned quite a reputation as a culinary competitor here in Buffalo two-time winner of the annual sous chef competition, held by Nickel City Chef at the Taste of Buffalo every year, and longtime sous chef to Nickel City Chef Adam Goetz, Gehrke may have more hands-on competition experience than all of our Firing Line competitors combined. Completely self-taught, Jimmy credits his abilities to the local chefs he has worked for who have taken the time to impart their knowledge to him.

Chef Jason LaMotte / Global Spectrum and The Conference & Event Center, Niagara Falls Jason LaMotte is executive chef for Global Spectrum, The Conference & Event Center in Niagara Falls. He attended Paul Smith’s College, earning an Associates Degree in the Culinary Arts. Born in Western New York, he grew up in New Orleans, eventually becoming an Executive Chef for John Besh restaurants. His culinary style focuses on bold flavors and honest preparations, but his world travels have also influenced his approach. After stints as an executive chef under Gordon Ramsay in London and Eastern Europe, he became the regional executive chef for Hard Rock Cafe in the Czech Republic. LaMotte and his wife Petra have three children.

Match Two takes place on Wednesday, November 14th.

Chef Donald Cook / Sample Donald Cook is the executive sous chef at Sample restaurant in Allentown. A graduate from the French Culinary Institute, Cook is a Buffalo native, who has recently returned from cooking in New York for the last five years. Cook, who feels that working clean and remaining professional are keys to his success, has worked at the Michelin-starred Rouge Tomate and as tournant under Chef Nate Appleman at Pulino’s. Cook’s firm belief that using proper technique and process when preparing food is just as important and the taste and quality of the final product.

Chef Daniel Kirby / Seabar Daniel Kirby works as a sous chef at Buffalo’s four star Sea Bar. A western New York native he is a graduate from the ECC Culinary Arts program. His passion for fusing classic and modern techniques might be most evident in his employ at Sea Bar, where his knowledgeable, creative, and even-tempered skill set are put to the test on a daily basis. Influenced by his idols, Eric Ripert and Thomas Keller, Kirby works to insure that his work pays respect to each individual ingredient.

Chef Anthony Petrilli / Park Country Club Anthony Petrilli can currently be found in the kitchen of our region’s most food-forward club, Park Country Club. A graduate of the ECC Culinary Arts program, Petrilli spent three months working in a restaurant on Italy’s Amalfi Coast before returning to the States. An 18-month stint in Toronto working for the lauded Oliver & Bonacini restaurant group taught him to work in an environment of well-executed systems and impeccable professionalism. Ambitious and passionate, Petrilli feels that growing up with a vegetable garden in his backyard taught him that food isn’t just sustenance, it can be divine.

Finale to be held on Sunday, December 2nd, competitors TBA.

About Feed Your Soul

Feed Your Soul is a company dedicated to developing and executing both private and public events focused on the food and agriculture of Western New York. Feed Your Soul’s events focus on showcasing the bounty that is Western New York’s legacy. Our company was founded on the firm belief that agritourism and culinary tourism should not only be a major aspect of living and traveling in WNY, but are a fundamental component to Buffalo’s renaissance.

Over the past several years the idea of eating local has become popular here and elsewhere, and with it the desire to experience foods fresh from the farm in our local restaurants. But without a distribution system in place for local farmers, as demand has grown, only a few farms have been willing or able to truly embrace the effort and challenges required to work with restaurants. Those that have stayed the course have found it to be a profitable and rewarding choice–chefs can appreciate the subtle adaptations a farmer can make in the growing process to really enhance a particular food, and anyone who has seen a field weather a serious storm can grasp the mercurial nature and risk inherent in farming.

The handful of farms whose food can be found in the best Western New York restaurants are fundamental to the success most of these restaurants enjoy. Chef Steven Gedra of Bistro Europa (recently named #2 Favorite Retsaurant in WNY) is known as one of Buffalo’s most adventurous chefs, and while he is well-trained and a naturally creative person, he will tell anyone dining at his restaurant that much of his inspiration comes from the raw ingredients provided to him by his farm vendors.

Which is why he has committed himself to A Big FUSS, in co-operation with NATIONAL FOOD DAY, which will take place on Wednesday, October 24th at Artisan Kitchens & Baths in Buffalo’s emerging Grant/Amherst neighborhood. This event is designed to aid a single, small family farm. A bad season, a major illness, a car accident, a broken piece of farm equipment–these are the things that can begin the road to ruin for a small farm. Can most farms survive one bad season? Sure. Can most make it through a bad season coupled with some other sort of family loss or tragedy? No. Can Buffalo’s emerging restaurant scene afford to lose a single one of its year-round farm suppliers? Absolutely not.

So Gedra teamed up with Feed Your Soul Productions’ Christa Glennie Seychew in order to develop an annual event where all proceeds would go directly to underwriting a single struggling farm. “Farmers are proud, and they aren’t likely to accept charity, ” Seychew said, “but every year I know of at least one farmer who is really at a tipping point. So why not fix it? This is the City of Good Neighbors, after all.” So Gedra and Seychew have gathered several of their friends to stage A Big FUSS on Wednesday night at Artisan Kitchens and Baths on Amherst Street. Some of WNY’s top chefs will be on-hand, and the silent auction sports some truly mouth-watering items (see below).

“The best restaurants in town get 15-25 requests for donations every week. I don’t think people have any idea how much of the charity in this town comes straight from our restaurants,” said Seychew. She and several area chefs worked to gather donations to support another local farmer last year, “I can’t imagine a single year could go by when one of our 7,500 farms won’t need our help, or couldn’t move the local food scene forward with seed money for a greenhouse or another season-extending addition to their farm. So Steve and I are just going to make it happen, because we both see the direct effect that eating local has on our farms and on what we do.”

DJ Cutler will warm up the joint; admission is only $30 (tickets available online or at the door). Both Gedra and Seychew are excited to say that almost all of the costs have been covered by them and their fellow locavores, so all of the proceeds will go directly to one of Buffalo’s best farms. Big FUSS 2.0 is the second undertaking, the first netted 2.5 mortgage payments for a farm facing foreclosure.